Report: Eagles trading LeSean McCoy to Bills for Kiko Alonso

Douglas LeeMar 3, 2015 6:49 PM

In what may be the NFL's biggest player-for-player deal since Denver got Champ Bailey from Washington in exchange for Clinton Portis, Philly will trade superstar running back LeSean McCoy to Buffalo next week in exchange for linebacker Kiko Alonso, according to Adam Schefter.

Trades may not become official until the new league year begins, at 4pm ET on Tuesday, March 10.

McCoy led the NFL in rushing yardage and yards from scrimmage in 2013; he totaled 1,474 yards from scrimmage and five touchdowns in 2014. He'll turn 27 in July, is due to be paid a $9.75M salary in 2015, and is signed through 2017. It was reported last week that Philly might ask McCoy to take a pay cut.

Bills running back Fred Jackson is under contract for one more year, while C.J. Spiller is a pending unrestricted free agent and is clearly headed elsewhere.

Alonso, a 2013 second-rounder, started 16 games and graded out at plus-10.3 over 1,176 snaps as a rookie. But his sophomore season was lost to a torn ACL suffered while training in Oregon (where he attended college) last summer. Alonso's rookie deal runs through 2016.

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Ted looks specifically at the Eagles offense, and why it's so difficult to stop.

Bonus for using that word, probably for the first time on this site!

Posted by VonSwenson on 2015-03-04 14:54:26

I like this move from Philly's standpoint. Good linebacker who was Kelly's defensive leader at Oregon, allows them to trade an overrated aging malcontent hb and maybe move up for Mariota without having to worry about defense.

Posted by Leo Duke on 2015-03-04 12:58:56

Ok I gotchu, seemed a little weird out of context lol.

Posted by Leo Duke on 2015-03-04 12:53:12

nah RBs are a dime a dozen. He was too expensive and getting older. This was a great move by the eagles.

Posted by T. Jensen on 2015-03-04 09:06:29

As anyone else utterly surprised the Eagles are doing this? LeSean McCoy is the best pure runner in the NFL! Who cares if he had an off year and is 27 years old.. no one in the NFL can run like him.

Posted by chillidog on 2015-03-04 05:41:45

Also because running backs are just so much more fungible.

Posted by DragonPie on 2015-03-04 01:08:24

Philadelphia Ducks. Quack!

Posted by LH Almeida on 2015-03-04 00:25:55

hahahha

Posted by Troy Fairclough on 2015-03-03 23:22:58

I think this will be one where both teams will get what they need in the short term, maybe with Buffalo getting a little more splash, but in two or three years it being a huge win for Philly. I like it - especially with guys like Coleman, Abdullah and Johnson likely available to them on Day 2 and Sproles already firmly established as a compliment.

Posted by Drew on 2015-03-03 22:45:44

Yes, and I completely agree. I was referring to comments earlier today where I was told by several people that making predictions or speculating on future outcomes here is inappropriate. Obviously, that's ridiculous, since the whole point of talking about sports is to try to guess what's going to happen next.

Posted by SterlingMalloryArcher on 2015-03-03 22:23:27

You do realize that this is a sports blog right? It's any sportswriters job to make predictions on the future, that is simply analysis. Given the fact that they traded for McCoy I think its reasonable to say that its above 90% that he leaves, so I don't see what's wrong with reasonable future based predictions. God knows the writers of this site's guesses are much more educated than ours on this topic.

Posted by Leo Duke on 2015-03-03 22:19:22

Ill upvote myself if nobody else will

Posted by Marc Steigers on 2015-03-03 22:00:56

In your opinion, of course. :)

Posted by SterlingMalloryArcher on 2015-03-03 20:28:27

I guess we'll see how this one pans out after a couple years. Chip Kelly sure isn't shy about bringing in his Oregon guys.

Posted by Andrew on 2015-03-03 20:26:27

I shouldn't have used the word "fact." What I meant was that both of those things have a level of certainty that yours does not. It's not that they're more popular, they are more certain.

Posted by aldenbrown on 2015-03-03 20:24:55

Don't worry Sterling, let the guy bang his head against the wall. With all the respect in the world, I think this is one of those things that is out of your control.

If its any consolation, it took me a good seven years to figure that one out. Could have saved me so much time.

Posted by Dubs on 2015-03-03 20:23:11

Neither of those statements are facts, Alden. Both are opinions, like mine, and one is a prediction. They are simply more popular opinions.

Posted by SterlingMalloryArcher on 2015-03-03 20:19:15

From my observation of the conversation, the problem is not with your lack of the use of "I believe" in general. The problem is that you want the conversation to begin with the assumption that Peyton Manning can no longer win a championship. If we do start with that assumption, all of your points are certainly correct. But that assumption doesn't rise to the level of fact such as "CJ Spiller is headed elsewhere" or "Ali Marpet has good power in his legs," does it?

Posted by aldenbrown on 2015-03-03 20:16:08

Couple questions here:1. How much does McCoy have left in the tank?2. How solid is Kiko's knee?

Until we know the answers to these questions, it's very hard to gauge the balance of this trade. My gut tells me the Eagles made out like bandits.

Posted by Marc Steigers on 2015-03-03 19:58:59

Yes, pwned. DESTROYED. Where is Doc Bear on this particular inappropriate future prediction?

Doc's opinions on Ali Marpet are every bit as subjective as mine on Manning, you just like him more.

Posted by SterlingMalloryArcher on 2015-03-03 19:41:36

The rationality is still perfectly in tact, but my rational conclusions about Manning's contract situation aren't very popular. My level-headedness disappeared as I grew more and more tired of having every word I typed criticized. Excuse me, "I believe" my rationality is in tact. I have to make it clear that's just my opinion.

I guess I don't see where I was misrepresenting other's comments. I believe a rational person can look at the data and come to the conclusion that Manning's play declined in the second half of the year. I think a rational person can also conclude that trend may continue.

The lack of popularity of that conclusion is obvious, but that doesn't make it less rational.

Posted by SterlingMalloryArcher on 2015-03-03 19:39:31

???

Posted by aldenbrown on 2015-03-03 19:38:58

He's posting this comment here so people won't see that Doc Bear pwned him on the other page when he tried this.

Posted by OneFalseMove on 2015-03-03 19:36:39

I love how you upvoted yourself with your other account, haha. Cmon now, you're better than that.

Posted by Dubs on 2015-03-03 19:36:12

Seriously, Sterling, what has gotten into you today? You've spent all day misrepresenting what other people say and then feeling sorry for yourself. Spiller has said he's going to take the best deal he can get on the open market, and Buffalo just traded for LeSean McCoy. So Spiller is obviously headed elsewhere. But you really don't seen the difference between saying that and saying that the Manning who ended the season can't win a championship? You used to be one of the most level-headed, rational posters here.